SPANISH SHOWCASE

Carlsbad home’s many owners retained essence of 1930s style

It wasn’t the ocean air or view that inspired William A. Hudler to leave his home in Iowa in 1928 to build what is thought to be the first house on what is now Monroe Street in Carlsbad. It was an investment in Southern California’s booming avocado industry. The house sat on a four-acre avocado grove.

In 1930, Hudler decided to return home and resume his career in the lumber business. He sold the property to another Midwestern speculator, H.A. Alfson, a vice president of the Columbian Bank Note Company in Chicago. The Spanish-style house sold for between $25,000 and $30,000, according to the Carlsbad Journal dated Dec. 12, 1930.

The story said Alfson’s interest in becoming an avocado rancher came from the recommendation of another Chicago bank executive, W.W. Kennedy: “Kennedy told him, ‘If you have any notion of going in for avocados, there is just one place to go, and that is to Carlsbad, down in San Diego County.’

“The Hudler grove acquired by Mr. Alfson is one of the best avocado properties in California, the tract of four acres being completely planted with more than half the grove in full production. Following the improvements contemplated by Mr. Alfson, this ranch will become one of the attractive country places of the district, with full ocean view and not far from the site of the new state park in Agua Hedionda.”

A few months later, on Feb. 27, 1931, a Carlsbad Journal story reported that the Alfsones were expanding and remodeling the Hudler ranch house with improvements that included a double garage.

It’s not known how many other families lived on the property before Ron Severino and his wife, Julie Severino Hoffman, bought the house in 1979. Hoffman remembers that the seller was an elderly woman who was obviously selective and who wasn’t going to turn over the keys to the house to just anyone. Hoffman assured her that their interest was in restoring the property, with modifications to accompany the needs of their family with three young daughters.

“We liked the 1930s look, and we had a lot of decorations from that period,” Hoffman said. “We redid the fireplace in the living room to make it more like the 1930s.” They also pulled out the carpeting and refinished the original hardwood floors to maintain the character of the house.

Severino split what was now a one-acre lot, and built a new home on one side and expanded the original house, where his family lived, to include a large family room on the first floor with a master bedroom suite directly above it on the second floor. For privacy, the couple brought in palm trees and planted a eugenia hedge for a fence.

Severino also added a chef’s kitchen with a commercial oven because Hoffman, a kindergarten teacher at Aviara Oaks, liked to cook and entertain as her daughters progressed from Magnolia Elementary to Valley Middle School and Carlsbad High School, each within walking distance. She made homemade jelly from a pomegranate tree outside and hosted slumber parties; she even hosted a wedding for a daughter’s friend in the front yard.